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Abstract
Objective: To assess nutritional knowledge and dietary practices during pregnancy among pregnant women attending Hoan My Sai Gon Hospital, examine selected demographic, social, and pregnancy-related factors associated with knowledge and practice, and to determine the relationship between nutritional knowledge and dietary practice scores.
Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study included 392 pregnant women receiving antenatal care during March–June 2026. Nutritional knowledge was assessed using a 15-item questionnaire adapted from the Italian Pregnancy Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (ItPreNKQ). Dietary practice was assessed using a 12-food-group Quality Eating Index (QEI) converted to a 0–100 scale. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, Pearson correlation, and multivariable linear regression were performed (p < 0.05).
Results: The mean knowledge score was 10.01 ± 2.10 out of 15; 54.1% of participants had moderate knowledge, 30.1% good knowledge, and 15.8% poor knowledge. The lowest correct-response rates concerned the recommended daily iron intake (40.6%), fish with high mercury content (47.2%), and recommended gestational weight gain for women who were overweight before pregnancy (47.4%). The mean QEI score was 54.18 ± 12.85 out of 100; 35.2% had good dietary practice and 64.8% required improvement. Higher education was independently associated with higher knowledge scores (β = 0.353; p < 0.001; adjusted R² = 0.128). Knowledge score was the only variable independently associated with QEI score in the reported multivariable model (β = 0.416; p < 0.001; adjusted R² = 0.170). Knowledge and QEI scores were moderately and positively correlated (r = 0.419; p < 0.001), although 47.5% of women with good knowledge still did not achieve good dietary practice.
Conclusion: Nutritional knowledge was predominantly moderate, whereas the proportion of pregnant women achieving good dietary practice remained low. Nutritional knowledge was positively associated with dietary practices but only a limited proportion of the variance in dietary behavior. Antenatal nutrition care should combine nutrition education with individualized counseling, behavior-change support, and follow-up of dietary practices.
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References
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